Alvah sweetland



(No Model.)

A. SWBETLAND.

PLANT CUTTING SHBARS.

No. 330,355. Patented Nov. 10, 1885.

Km am i on n. PETERS. vlwwlmw m ner. Wnshinglom D c NlTED STATES ATENTtries.

ALVAH SWEETLAND, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

PLANT-CUTTING SHEARS.

BPELIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 330,355, dated November10, 1885.

Application filed October 15, 1884. Serial No. 145,609. (No model.)

T0 on whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALVAH SWEETLAND, of the city of Syracuse, county ofOnondaga, and State of New York, a citizen of the United States, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Plant-Cutting Shears, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description andspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a plan View of the shears partly opened and of a partof the handles, and Fig. 2 is a side view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts wherever theyoccur.

My invention consists in certain features of construction, hereinafterdescribed, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

My apparatus is constructed as follows: A and B are the twoblades,pivoted together at a, and having their shanks bent upward at bto about the angle shown in Fig. 2, and inserted into the handles 0 D inany usual man ner. I construct the blades from a plate of steel ofdesired thickness to give sufficient stiffness to the blades by stampingthem out, or in any other expedient way, to the general form or outlineshown. I then finish off the cutting-edge of the blade A by firstbeveling it for the entire length of the inner edge down nearly to acutting-edge.' 1 next serrate more or less sharply the central portion,forming teeth therein of different bevels from that of the main bevel ofthe blade. The cuttingedge is then of the following form or contour:Starting at the point 0 it extends out straight to d; thence it roundsoutward or in a convex curve to e, and thence straight to the point.This convex portion between at and e is the serrated part, and by theserrations or from them the teeth m are formed. These teeth are beveledupon both sides, or so as to form a sharp point upon each tooth. Theinner edge of the blade B is constructed with a central concavity, f,and has straight portions h '5, one, 71', extending out to the point,and the other, i, in a direction nearly at a right angle to the portionh, and both tangential to the circle of the concavity. The otherportions of these blades are constructed of about the form or outwardcontour shown in the drawlngs.

E is my shoe, which is shown in the drawings as formed by bending backthe front end of the blade B, and long enough to extend back in acurvilinear direction a little beyond the lower ends of the handles andbelow them. This shoe can be made of a separate piece of metal andriveted or otherwise secured to the blade B. This shoe,in thefirstplace, serves to support the shears when in use, keeping them upout of the dirt, and the operator can also slide the whole device alongupon the shoe from one plant to another, and the back end of the shoeserves to keep the lower ends of the handles from catching in the dirtor against an obstruction.

H is a collar fitting loosely upon the lower part of one of the handles,and it is adjustable up or down thereon by means of a setscrew, asshown. From the face of this collar a stud, n, projects,which serves asan axle for the wheel I, and also as a stop in the closing of theshears. This wheel I can be used, if desired, and is designed to permitthe operator to trundle the cutter along over the ground from one plantto another. It can be used in connection with the shoe or without theshoe.

The operation of the blades when construct ed as shown in the drawingsis as follows: When opened, the stalk of the plant is received and heldin the concavity of the blade B, and as the blades are forced toapproach each other, the first tooth (nearest to d) begins the cut, andthe other teeth follow in order. All of these teeth, from their peculiarbevel and pitch, cut with a drawing out, beginning at the point and thenworking back toward the base of the teeth, thereby cutting faster andeasier than a plain beveled cuttingedge. In order to increase thisdrawing cut, I pivot the blades together in such a manner that from thelocation of the pivot, it being at one side of the cutting-edges, aneccentric motion is imparted to the blades, or the pivot so locatedoperates as an eccentric hinge.

The lines upon which the straight and curved cutting-edges operate areall at one side of the pivot of the blades, while the shoe and blade Bare relatively fixed when motion is given to blade A, so that, as abovestated, a drawing-cut is made by said blade A at the serrated or notchedand convex portions of the same.

The inner edge of the blade B can be beveled on the under side and leftplain, or it can have its edge serrated and teeth formed extendingaround through the concavity, or both blades can be serrated the entirelength of their cutting-edges, or the inner edge of the blade B can beleft blunt or square, in which case the blade A performs the whole out.

The form of the concavity f, combined with the tendency of the inwarddrawing out or stroke of the serrations on the blade .A to crowd thestalk backward into the concavity,

. together prevent any Slipping of the instrument.

What I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A plant-cutter provided with a shoe connected with the point of ablade and extended rearwardly under said blade, and curved laterally toproject rearwardly between the handles, substantially as shown anddescribed.

2. In a plant-cutter, the combination of the handles OD, collar H,adjustable longitudinally upon the handle and having lug n and wheel I,substantially as shown and described. 3. In a plant-cutter, thecombination of the blades A B, the former having the convex serratedportion, and the latter the concave portion t, and both curvedlaterally, and the pivot of the blades being in line with one of thehandles of said blades, and one of said blades having a shoe projectingrearwardly between -the handles, substantially as shown and described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 10th day of October,1884.

,ALVAH SWEETLAND. Witnesses:

O. W. SMITH, J. CHARLES NEEDRAM.

